Editing Joseph Kasa-Vubu (section)

== Presidency ==
[[File:Kasa-Vubu and Governor-General Cornelis.jpg|thumb|Kasa-Vubu with the outgoing Governor-General of the Congo, [[Hendrik Cornelis]], before the latter's departure from the country, July 1960.]]
[[File:Joseph Kasa-Vubu visit to Israel (997009326809705171).jpg|thumb|alt=Kasa-Vubu during a 1963 visit to Israel, with the President Zalman Shazar|Kasa-Vubu during a 1963 visit to Israel, with the President [[Zalman Shazar]]]]
After Congo's independence from Belgium, his ABAKO party received 9.47% of the national vote for the Chamber of Deputies in the [[1960 Belgian Congo general election]], giving it a disappointing third place with 12 seats. In the Senate in the same election, ABAKO's result was even worse, receiving just over 5% of the vote and winning only 5 parliamentary seats. He forged an unlikely coalition between his regionalist and conservative ABAKO party and [[Patrice Lumumba]]'s left-wing nationalist and election-winning [[Congolese National Movement]] (MNC) party, offering support in the government. In return, he received from the Lumumbists the indirect election of President of the Republic in the Senate and the National Assembly in 1960, defeating [[Jean Bolikango]], his former political mentor.{{sfn|Kisangani|2009|p=265}} Kasa-Vubu's election represented an attempt to gain Belgian control over the administration of the newly independent Congo. This was evidenced by the warm positive reaction of the Belgian press as well as of pro-Belgian Léopoldville periodicals such as the ''Courrier d'Afrique''. The [[United States]] also expressed satisfaction at the election of a conservative to the Congolese government.{{sfn|Hoskyns|1965|p=79}} Belgian politicians expected Kasa-Vubu to act against Lumumba by defending Belgium's economic interests.{{sfn|Hoskyns|1965|p=83}} He was officially sworn in as president on 27 June 1960.{{sfn|Bonyeka|1992|pp=248–249}}

The new republic was immediately destabilized by political and military conflicts and regional secessionist movements, and the central government was paralyzed by the conflict between the conservative Kasa-Vubu and the left-wing nationalist Prime Minister Lumumba. While Lumumba advocated a modernizing and multiracial central government, Kasa-Vubu attempted to implement a more regionalist and tribalist form of government under a veneer of federalism.{{sfn|Tanner|1961}}

His role as head of state, which was supposed to be ceremonial and far less influential than Lumumba’s role as prime minister, became one of behind-the-scenes plotting. During the immediate post-independence uprising, Kasa-Vubu took few actions and made few strong public statements, even as Lumumba appealed for international assistance from the Americans, the [[United Nations]], and the [[Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Tanner|1961}} As pressure grew from the secessionist conflicts in [[Katanga insurgency|Katanga]] and [[Invasion of South Kasai|South Kasai]] and the [[1960 Force Publique mutinies|Force Publique mutiny]], events sponsored by Belgium, Kasa-Vubu sought to assemble conspirators willing to destabilize the government, secretly bringing together figures such as [[Moïse Tshombe]], [[Harold Charles d'Aspremont Lynden|Harold Lynden]], [[Albert Kalonji]], [[Jean Bolikango]], [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Joseph-Désiré Mobutu]], and [[Joseph Iléo]]. Meanwhile, Kasa-Vubu came under internal pressure from ABAKO and President [[Fulbert Youlou]] of [[Congo-Brazzaville]] to restrain Lumumba. Publicly, he tried to appear as someone committed to balance and national unity, even broadcasting a national appeal on August 13 for unity and support for the government. However, his speeches, always in a mysterious and dubious tone, were intended to provoke destabilization:{{sfn|Hoskyns|1965|p=198}}
<blockquote>
If I am under a moral obligation to support and defend the government within the limits set by the law, the members of the government themselves have a duty to work together as a team. Their policy must be the policy of the government and not that of one party, one race, or one tribe. It must be a policy which reflects the interests of the nation and which allows humanitarian values to flourish in freedom. This imperative excludes all feelings of hatred, suspicion, and bad faith towards those who have collaborated loyally with us. It is also the duty of the government to respect the institutions which have been set up and to abide by the normal rules of democratic practice.
</blockquote>

[[File:Mobutu and Kasa-Vubu in 1961.jpg|thumb|Kasa-Vubu with Colonel [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Joseph-Désiré Mobutu]] in 1961]]
On September 5, Kasa-Vubu [[Dissolution of the Lumumba Government|dissolved]] Lumumba's directly and democratically elected government, accusing him, without foundation, of "communist sympathies". It is worth noting that Kasa-Vubu was elected indirectly and disrespected the results of the polls. Lumumba refused to accept his resignation and announced Kasa-Vubu's resignation, provoking a political crisis that lasted until September 14.{{sfn|Doyle|2006|p=175}} It was Kasa-Vubu who requested that army commander [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Joseph-Désiré Mobutu]] seize power and arrest Lumumba. Lumumba was subsequently handed over to Moïse Tshombe's secessionist state in [[State of Katanga|Katanga]] and was assassinated. Thus, Kasa-Vubu was the main architect of the plot to assassinate Lumumba, linking the names of Mobutu, Harold Lynden and Tshombe, with financing from Western powers, which had interests in the Congo's natural resources.{{sfn|Doyle|2006|p=175}}

Over the next five years, Kasa-Vubu presided over a succession of weak governments, conspiring against them all in an attempt to weaken the country's central government to allow greater freedom to Belgian-American capital. After the end of the secession of Katanga, Kasa-Vubu appointed Tshombe as prime minister in July 1964 with a mandate to end the emerging [[Simba Rebellion]]. Tshombe recalled the exiled [[Katangese Gendarmerie]] and recruited white mercenaries, integrating them with the [[Armée Nationale Congolaise]] (ANC). Many of the mercenaries had fought for Katanga while Tshombe was the leader of that breakaway province. Despite the successes against the Simba rebels, Tshombe's prestige was damaged by his use of white mercenaries and western forces. Ultimately, Kasa-Vubu conspired to overthrow Tshombe (his former ally in the fall of Lumumba) himself and dismissed him as prime minister in October 1965.

Mobutu [[Second Mobutu coup d'état|seized power]] for a second time on 25 November 1965, now deposing Kasa-Vubu and subsequently declaring himself head of state.